Oxfam International has recently published a fresh study exposing shocking new data on the extractive appropriations from India by the British colonizers, with an estimated amplitude of USD 64.82 trillion between 1765 and 1900.
Of that sum, over half went to the top 10% of Britain, amounting to USD 33.8 trillion. That is such a huge amount that it could be used to cover the entire surface area of London with £50 notes almost four times over.
Impact Of Colonialism
The findings form part of Oxfam’s annual global inequality report, titled Takers, Not Makers, released on the first day of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting. The report brings to light the historical roots of modern inequality, showing how colonialism shaped the economies of the colonizing nations and set the stage for global disparities that persist today.
As reported by Oxfam, colonial legacies persist and have a continued impact on how modern wealth is distributed. “Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives,” the organization stated.
This report highlights the point that these colonial practices led to a world divided along racial lines and wealth distribution with huge amounts of resources taken out of the Global South to fuel the economy of the Global North.
Drain Of Wealth From India To UK
Oxfam’s analysis, using many studies and research papers, finds that between 1765 and 1900, the UK extracted USD 33.8 trillion from India. In today’s money, it gives an idea of the enormity of the colonial exploitation. The organization drew attention to the fact that it could have paid for covering the surface area of London nearly four times in £50 notes.
The study also brought to the forefront the role of British colonial policies in siphoning off resources from India, which had once been the world’s industrial powerhouse. In 1750, the Indian subcontinent accounted for 25% of global industrial output. However, by the end of British colonial rule in 1900, this share had drastically fallen to just 2%, underscoring the extent to which colonialism drained India’s resources and stunted its economic development.
Who Are The Richest 10%?
According to the report by Oxfam, the biggest recipients of this amount of wealth drained from India are the richest persons in Britain. The richest 10% in Britain received 52% of the total amount taken away from India. The new middle class that is emerging in Britain is the next largest beneficiary, receiving 32% of the total amount.
This immense wealth transfer played a significant role in shaping the socioeconomic structure of the UK during and after colonial rule. Many of the richest families in Britain today can trace their wealth back to the compensation they received when slavery was abolished or from the profits made during colonial rule, including from British companies such as the East India Company.
Oxfam also contended that modern multinational corporations owe much of their existence to colonialism. It cited companies like the East India Company, which, during the colonial period, acted as an independent entity and was directly responsible for many atrocities committed under British rule.
Today, Oxfam says that multinational companies are still exploiting workers in the Global South, mostly women, to swell their shareholders’ pockets in the Global North. The ‘dirty and toxic legacy of colonialism’ started then, but today it continues through ‘exploitation and inequality’, says the report.
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